Search for Meaning with Rabbi Yoshi

In this episode, Mandana Dayani joins Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback for a candid and wide-ranging conversation on maintaining a sense of purpose within an increasingly complex world.

Drawing on her personal history as an Iranian-born Jewish refugee, Mandana provides a vital human perspective on the impact of regime change and the nuances of Iranian history that often go overlooked. Together, they explore the core values—gratitude, creativity...

In this episode of Search for Meaning, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback sits down with a colleague and friend, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, senior rabbi of Central Synagogue and author of the powerful new memoir Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi’s Story of Faith, Identity, and Belonging.

Together, they explore what it means to live between worlds — culturally, spiritually, and personally — and how the experience of feeling like an outsider can b...

In the second installment of this wide-ranging conversation, Rabbi Yoshi continues his dialogue with Rabbi Ed Feinstein and Rabbi David Woznica — turning from personal story to the larger questions pressing on the Jewish community today.

Recorded on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, at a moment marked by the return of Ran Gvili, the last hostage, and amid rising antisemitism, deep national division, and growing concern about ...

In this first installment of a special two-part conversation, Rabbi Yoshi sits down live with Rabbi Ed Feinstein, longtime senior rabbi of Valley Beth Shalom, and Rabbi David Woznica, who has served Stephen Wise Temple for more than two decades.

Recorded on International Holocaust Remembrance Day — just one day after the return of Ran Gvili, the last hostage — this dialogue unfolds at a moment of profound weight for the Jewish commu...

In this episode of Search for Meaning, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback sits down with Cantor Lauren Blasband-Roth for a thoughtful conversation about vocation, music, and Jewish life. Lauren shares her journey to the cantorate, reflecting on her Brooklyn roots, the influence of her family, and the experiences that shaped her love of Judaism and song.

The conversation explores what surprised her most about becoming a cantor, the joys and challe...

In this episode of Search for Meaning, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback sits down with Professor Michal Bar-Asher Siegal, one of today’s leading scholars of rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity. Their conversation ranges from the ancient world to our own moment, exploring how religious traditions take shape through encounter, disagreement, and relationship.

Rabbi Yoshi first encountered Michal’s work in Israel during the World Zionist Congre...

In this special episode of Search for Meaning, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback sits down with Rabbi Steve Leder and Peter Himmelman for a wide-ranging conversation about friendship, faith, creativity, and the moment we are living in.

Together, they reflect on growing up Jewish in the Midwest, the quiet experiences of childhood that shape a life, and the distinct journeys that led one of them to the rabbinate and the other to music. Along the w...

In this episode of Search for Meaning, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback is joined by his teacher, mentor, and friend, Rabbi Steve Leder, for a wide-ranging and deeply personal conversation recorded in January 2021, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Their discussion centers on Rabbi Leder’s book, The Beauty of What Remains, written after the death of his father following a long journey with Alzheimer’s. Drawing on more than three decades of...

In this solo episode of Search for Meaning, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback reflects on a timely and challenging question facing the Jewish community today: How do we disagree without hating one another?

Prompted by recent remarks from Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove at the American Zionist Movement Biennial, Rabbi Yoshi explores the growing tensions within Jewish communal life — particularly around Israel — and the ways our conversations can become pol...

Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback sits down with actor Moshe Lobel, star of the groundbreaking new film SHTTL—a Yiddish-language, single-shot masterpiece set in a Ukrainian shtetl on the eve of its destruction in 1941. Filmed in 2021 but only recently released, SHTTL feels uncannily prophetic, speaking directly to the anxieties, divisions, and questions facing the Jewish world today.

Moshe brings a deeply personal lens to the film. Raised in an ...

Veteran trial lawyer Marc Kasowitz has taken his courtroom skills to a new front—the battle against antisemitism on America’s college campuses. In this episode, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback talks with Kasowitz about the lawsuits he’s brought against universities like NYU and Harvard, where Jewish and Israeli students faced harassment and exclusion.

Their conversation explores how the legal system can hold powerful institutions accountable, ...

In this special episode, Rabbi Yoshi shares his 5786 Rosh Hashanah (2025) sermon, Sanctified — For the Whole World.

Drawing on the wisdom of his grandfather, Jewish tradition, and the moral challenges of our time, Rabbi Zweiback explores the sacred balance between particularism and universalism — between our deep commitment to the Jewish people and our responsibility to all humanity.

Through stories of family, Israel, and acts of com...

In this episode of Search for Meaning, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback sits down with Michael Honigstein, a career Foreign Service Officer who has served in countries around the world—including Sudan, Sri Lanka, and Israel—working to promote peace, democracy, and human rights.

Michael reflects on his remarkable journey from an advertising career in New York to decades of diplomatic service, shaped by his Jewish upbringing and a deep sense of m...

In this episode of Search for Meaning, host Yoshi Zweiback sits down with dear friend and esteemed spiritual leader Rabbi Sydney Mintz. Rabbi Mintz, longtime rabbi at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco and founder of the 13th Tribe community, brings her unique blend of rabbinic insight, performance art, and lived experience to the conversation.

After touching on her creative work—including her one-woman show You May Think I’m Fu...

In this episode of Search for Meaning, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback speaks with Rania Fadel Dean, a leader of the Druze community in Los Angeles and founder of Covenant of Blood (Brit Damim).

Together they explore the unique history and religion of the Druze people, their deep integration into Israeli society, and the “covenant of blood” that binds the Druze and Jewish communities through shared sacrifice and loyalty. Rania also sheds light...

What happens when a Reform journalist and an Orthodox rabbi spend years studying Torah together? In this episode of Search for Meaning, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback welcomes Abigail Pogrebin and Rabbi Dov Linzer to talk about their new book, It Takes Two to Torah.

Drawing from very different backgrounds—Abby, the daughter of feminist thinker Letty Pogrebin, who grew up in a more assimilated Jewish home, and Dov, who was raised in a Modern O...

How do we find laughter when everything feels too heavy? What role does humor play when we're facing unimaginable challenges? Emmy, Peabody, and Grammy-winning comedy writer Rob Kutner offers surprising wisdom on these questions through the lens of Jewish history and his own creative journey.

"I can't solve those problems, nor should I try to, but at least I can give people's brains a break so that they...

In this episode of Search for Meaning, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback sits down with Julie Brill, author of Hidden in Plain Sight: A Family Memoir and the Untold Story of the Holocaust in Serbia. Julie’s book uncovers a little-known chapter of Jewish history, exploring the resilience, struggles, and heritage of the Jewish community in Serbia.

Together, they discuss memory, trauma, and the ways stories from the past shape our present. Julie re...

🗣️ Search for Meaning with Rabbi Yoshi welcomes journalist and diplomat Jonathan Harounoff, author of the forthcoming book Unveiled: Inside Iran’s #WomanLifeFreedom Revolt.

📖 In this episode, Jonathan shares the story behind his groundbreaking reporting on Iran’s women-led uprising, sparked by the 2022 death of Mahsa Jina Amini. His book is built on exclusive interviews with protestors and survivors—painting a powerful picture of ...